The New Dynamics That Are Eroding the Market for Sprawl

The argument that sprawl is the natural product of market forces and consumer preferences is ringing a little more hollow with each passing day.

While charlatans like Wendell Cox use overly simplistic analyses of Census results to argue that the urban renaissance is a figment of our collective imagination, the underlying trends tell a different story, says Kaid Benfield at the Natural Resources Defense Council's Switchboard blog.

Many of the assumptions that underpinned the sprawl bonanza of the last 50 years are just no longer true: The past three years have shredded the logic of building communities as if we have an inexhaustible supply of petroleum, or the notion that homeownership is the most direct path to the American dream.

Benfield argues that demand for sprawling development still exists, but in a diminished capacity that represents a new American dynamic:

As for the argument that population figures don't support the renewed interest in urban places, Benfield says:

Benfield goes on to note that the better indicator of the popularity of cities verses suburbs may be home prices, rather than population growth, and that shows much more robust demand for urban places. The real question isn't what was the trend over the last decade, but what dynamic will dominate in the future. From that perspective, the current trends are a clear departure from our picket-fences-into-oblivion past.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Walkable Dallas-Fort Worth asks whether it's time for Texas to get serious about urban freeway demolitions. Urban Ardonia disputes the notion that driving a car is the "grownup" thing to do. And California Streets argues in support of a new law that would allow residents of South Pasadena to oppose the 710 freeway expansion.